Architect Peter Clewes just doesn’t get it. We, the citizens of Ottawa, do not want a glass box attached to the Château Laurier. If the owner wants to expand it, he should hire an architect who will make the proposed addition fit in with the current look of the Château Laurier.

Mark Stolarik, Ottawa

Château is part of Ottawa’s overall look

The latest version of the proposed addition is just as ugly and out of place as the first one. Why would anyone consider such a bastardized corruption to a heritage building? The château is adjacent to other heritage structures such as the Rideau Canal Locks and the Parliament buildings, which together, make up a unique Heritage area.

The almighty dollar is the motivator, seemingly, but there has to be a limit when it intrudes into the public domain.

William Carr, Kanata

Owners should be asked not to expand the Château

An easy solution to the question of approving an addition to the Château Laurier would be to just ask the owners to build no addition of any kind.

Larco Investments Ltd.’s addition would be an act of vandalism, utterly destroying the heritage integrity of the château. The owners could simply build a standalone hotel elsewhere downtown.

David Lee, Ottawa

Château design simply doesn’t work

The new drawings of the Château Laurier expansion still do not keep the architectural integrity of this iconic hotel. Like the glass pyramid at the Louvre, any deviation from an original design compromises the visual architectural impression, particularly if classical and modern styles are mixed. The ultimate result is an eyesore.

This second design is smaller and perhaps less visually disturbing, but it still doesn’t blend in to the original building, and the roof is definitely not a Château Laurier roof. It looks like an add-on.

Perhaps the architects should wander down the road and look at the Lord Elgin Hotel, which successfully added a wing but kept the original style and look. If developers want to fill the Ottawa skyline with ugly brick, boxy condos that have no architectural appeal whatsoever, then what can you do? But when a building as beautiful as the Château Laurier is tampered with, it is an architectural felony.

If there were a jail for bad architectural design in Ottawa, it would be full.

Douglas Cornish, Ottawa

Match EquiPass price to Ottawa’s community bus pass

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the community bus pass, which was brought in to provide access to public transit for people living on Ontario disability support. Today, the pass costs $41.75 a month, which is a boon for folks living on ODSP who, after deducting rent from their $1,110 monthly stipend – the ODSP rate for a single adult – are often living on $300 a month or less, considering the average rent for a bachelor apartment in Ottawa, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corportation, is $801 a month).

These folks would not be able to afford the $105 monthly bus pass that OC Transpo now charges.

So, at first blush, the proposed EquiPass in the 2017 budget, for people living below the low-income cutoff ($24,000 for a single person in a large city like Ottawa), is a welcome step toward making public transit available to the poor.

But the EquiPass cost of $57 a month is $16 more than the community bus pass, and for people on social assistance, this is unaffordable. A single person on Ontario Works receives a monthly stipend of $681 which, after rent, leaves precious little to cover food, let alone a $57 monthly bus pass. No wonder our food banks are so busy.

The obvious solution is to make the EquiPass price equal to the current community bus pass price. To do otherwise would create a two-tier system for helping the poor gain access to public transit, penalizing those on Ontario Works who are seeking employment. Using the community bus pass rate would better achieve council’s goals.

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